anybody?"

"Only to our host. Upon my return home I sent for him, and I then
explained to him what I wished to procure. He assured me that nothing
would be easier than to furnish all I desired. One thing I was sorry
for; when I bade him have the horns of the oxen gilded, he told me there
would not be time, as it would require three days to do that; so you see
we must do without this little superfluity."

"And where is he now?"

"Who?"

"Our host."

"Gone out in search of our equipage, by to-morrow it might be too late."

"Then he will be able to give us an answer to-night."

"Oh, I expect him every minute." At this instant the door opened, and
the head of Signor Pastrini appeared. "Permesso?" inquired he.

"Certainly--certainly," cried Franz. "Come in, mine host."

"Now, then," asked Albert eagerly, "have you found the desired cart and
oxen?"

"Better than that!" replied Signor Pastrini, with the air of a man
perfectly well satisfied with himself.

"Take care, my worthy host," said Albert, "better is a sure enemy to
well."

"Let your excellencies only leave the matter to me," returned Signor
Pastrini in a tone indicative of unbounded self-confidence.

"But what have you done?" asked Franz. "Speak out, there's a worthy
fellow."

"Your excellencies are aware," responded the landlord, swelling with
importance, "that the Count of Monte Cristo is living on the same floor
with yourselves!"

"I should think we did know it," exclaimed Albert, "since it is owing
to that circumstance that we are packed into these small rooms, like two
poor students in the back streets of Paris."

"When, then, the Count of Monte Cristo, hearing of the dilemma in which
you are placed, has sent to offer you seats in his carriage and two
places at his windows in the Palazzo Rospoli." The friends looked at
each other with unutterable surprise.

"But do you think," asked Albert, "that we ought to accept such offers
from a perfect stranger?"

"What sort of person is this Count of Monte Cristo?" asked Franz of his
host. "A very great nobleman, but whether Maltese or Sicilian I cannot
exactly say; but this I know, that he is noble as a Borghese and rich as
a gold-mine."

"It seems to me," said Franz, speaking in an undertone to Albert, "that
if this person merited the high panegyrics of our landlord, he would
have conveyed his invitation through another channel, and not permitted
it to be brought to us in this unceremonious way.